diff --git a/kernel/trace/trace_events_user.c b/kernel/trace/trace_events_user.c
index 0536db7fef61..4f5e74bbdab2 100644
--- a/kernel/trace/trace_events_user.c
+++ b/kernel/trace/trace_events_user.c
@@ -2096,7 +2096,8 @@ static ssize_t user_events_write_core(struct file *file, struct iov_iter *i)
 
 		if (unlikely(faulted))
 			return -EFAULT;
-	}
+	} else
+		return -EBADF;
 
 	return ret;
 }
diff --git a/tools/testing/selftests/user_events/ftrace_test.c b/tools/testing/selftests/user_events/ftrace_test.c
index eb6904d89f14..5beb0aef1d81 100644
--- a/tools/testing/selftests/user_events/ftrace_test.c
+++ b/tools/testing/selftests/user_events/ftrace_test.c
@@ -324,6 +324,10 @@ TEST_F(user, write_events) {
 	io[0].iov_base = &reg.write_index;
 	io[0].iov_len = sizeof(reg.write_index);
 
+	/* Write should return -EBADF when event is not enabled */
+	ASSERT_EQ(-1, writev(self->data_fd, (const struct iovec *)io, 3));
+	ASSERT_EQ(EBADF, errno);
+
 	/* Enable event */
 	self->enable_fd = open(enable_file, O_RDWR);
 	ASSERT_NE(-1, write(self->enable_fd, "1", sizeof("1")))
@@ -400,6 +404,10 @@ TEST_F(user, write_fault) {
 	ASSERT_EQ(0, ioctl(self->data_fd, DIAG_IOCSREG, &reg));
 	ASSERT_EQ(0, reg.write_index);
 
+	/* Enable event */
+	self->enable_fd = open(enable_file, O_RDWR);
+	ASSERT_NE(-1, write(self->enable_fd, "1", sizeof("1")))
+
 	/* Write should work normally */
 	ASSERT_NE(-1, writev(self->data_fd, (const struct iovec *)io, 2));